My quick review of 5 mindmapping apps

 Below is a quick review of the latest versions of 5 popular mindmapping apps that I have done. (If you know of other mindmapping tools which are worth including in this review, please let me know.)

#elearningPS

WAKELET.COM

Quick Review of 5 Mindmapping Apps

by Paul Sze (Jan 24, 2022)

1Kai Chung Lee

Starting another round of Zoom classes

 Here is my curtain-raiser remark this evening when I start Zooming my ICT in ELT class:

"……Yes, it's less fuss attending a class online; at least it saves you commuting time. However, let's not cheat ourselves into thinking that online learning is as good as F2F classes. If it was, all university teaching would be distance-based already. But since we cannot change the pandemic situation, let's make the best of our Zoom session now. As the English proverb goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

AI for proofreading compositions

 I hadn't visited Grammarly for a while, so I had a go with it just now, to find out how much it had benefitted from recent developments in AI in education. I made up a problem paragraph for it to proofread, and below is its performance.

Bad news: Teachers of English still have to toil with endless composition marking for some more years to come.

Good news: AI will not be able to replace teachers in the forseeable future.

https://prnt.sc/26hyvx6

2 new functions of Quizlet

 Just noticed 2 new functions of Quizlet:

1. CHECKPOINT: Turn a deck into a live Kahoot-like game.

2. LEARN: A new option which turns a deck into a 'Study Path'. This is like an adaptive learning system, the aim of which is for a learner to reach full mastery of a deck.

I.IMGUR.COM

i.imgur.com

'The sentence below' vs 'the below sentence'

How should ‘below’ be used and classified?

Do you accept using ‘below’ as in ‘the below information’, ‘the below list’, ‘the below section’, etc.”?

An admin document from The Harvard Teaching Certificate Course contains the following sentence:

“Make sure your address below is correct. You can search again or edit the below address manually.”

What is interesting is that ‘below’ is used twice in the same sentence, but in different ways.

If my impression is correct, until 10 years ago, people would only say ‘the information below’, with ‘below’ classified as an adverb! (This is different from ‘below’ as a preposition, as in ‘below the table’, ‘below the surface’, etc.). Today, to me, the fight against phrases like ‘the below information’ and ‘the below list’ is over. (The word ‘above’ went through a similar process. Now, it’s “below”‘s turn.)

Then ‘below’ has to be classified as an adjective. I’ve looked up a few online dictionaries. Almost all of them still classify ‘below’ as a preposition (‘below the table’) and an adverb (the information below). Only one dictionary has classified ‘below’ also as an adjective: Merriam-Webster.

What is even more interesting is that in the Harvard sentence, the first occurrence of ‘below’ is ‘Your address below’, i.e., the ‘traditional’ word order. If I change it to ‘Your below address’, it doesn’t sound quite right to my ear (though I have no problem accepting ‘the below information’). I can’t think of a reason yet, but this might suggest that there’s still a place for ‘below’ to function as an adverb (though I personally prefer calling it a postmodifying adjective).

the digital divide between teachers

 十年人事幾番新。我說的是我教的Master' course “ICT in English Language Teaching“，早陣子把今年和10年前的course outline 對比一下，發覺今年的內容和10年前的比較，已經面目全非，可見ed tech發展的快，10年前，誰會想到今天探究的是AI in Education 。

這亦是令人憂慮的地方，年青的老師肯學敢試，運用e-learning於教學的水平便一日千里;而veteran teachers如果不敢或不願涉足ICT,便停留在PPT的階段，於是前者和後者的e-learning 專業水平，便愈來愈相差得遠，出現一個鴻溝。

Beware of pedestrians

 I always find this sign amusing. In HK, any sign in Chinese that starts with "小心……“ becomes "Beware of ……" in English. That's why life in HK is so tense and hectic, because there are so many things we have to beware of: pickpockets, vehicles, drunk drivers, objects falling from above, wild boars...., as well as  pedestrians, hot food, the staircase ……..

I looked up the issue in some online discussion forums. Some native speakers do frown on this usage, preferring "Watch out for pedestrians" to "Beware of pedestrians", as "Beware of" should be followed by something or somebody which may potentially cause danger. 

But language is changing all the time. Has "Beware of" also come to mean "Watch out for"? And, do people also say "Beware of pedestrians" in Singapore?

Meanwhile, I will take the advice of this sign, which appeared inside Alexander Grantham, a retired fireboat berthed in Quarry Bay Park: "Beware of your head." This makes sense, because the brain inside one's head is potentially the source of all evils. 

"Reading Progress" in Microsoft Teams

 Thanks to the generous help of Kelvin Kan Ka Hei, I had the chance to test-drive the new AI-assisted Pronunciation Assessment function within Microsoft Teams, called Reading Progress. 

Under Reading Progress, the teacher uploads a reading passage to Teams, and assigns it as a Reading-Aloud assignment. Afterwards, the programme will (a) return a percentage grade for each submitted assignment, and (b) provide a diagnostic report on the performance (i.e.., words highlighted showing mispronunciations, omissions, insertions, etc.). The teacher does not have to listen to each recording, as the assessment is all done by the AI programme. 

My own test-drive shows that the AI programme is quite reliable in terms of assessing the pronunication of individual words, but still has to do further 'learning' in terms of listening for features of connection speech, such as weak forms, linking, elision, and assimilation. 

From 'teacher-student' to 'peer'

 今天下午到這學校和老師就著一個 P2 RaC Unit進行co~planning。其中三位是我的舊Education student，這是令我最有滿足感的活動。當年我是她們的師訓「班主任」，然後她們畢業後成為前線教師，積聚經驗，今天充滿創意和教學熱誠，然後我們由「師徒」變為教學的peer,一同備課。有我這樣經歷的同工應該不會很多哩。

International Outstanding e-Learning Awards

 擔任了這比賽英文組評判幾年，親眼看到參賽水平一年高過一年，像今年中學金獎已經把CoSpaces Edu融入中一的教學設計，小學金獎在小二已經用Flipgrid組織學生分享經驗。

這就是e-learning 吸引人之處，工具在那裏，但怎樣運用於教學上，這當中有無限的空間。有創意的教師可以不斷鑽研，專業水平便不斷提高，學與教都變得更有效，更有趣。

Classroom Dynamics

 Yesterday morning, I observed an excellent S3 flipped lesson at this school (Ho Lap College). The lesson demonstrated all the most important principles of flipped learning design. The pre-class work prepared students with the key concepts for the upcoming lesson. The in-class lesson concentrated on active learning and higher-order thinking activities. 

What particularly impressed me was the superb classroom dynamics. The teacher, Ms Li, connected with the students seamlessly throughout the lesson. Every student was focussed and on task, and took part in every activity with utmost enthusiasm. They supported and collaborated with each other, rather than trying to one-up their classmates. I could feel the very strong bonding between the teacher and the students, and between the students themselves. Every person in the classroom was engrossed in the same teaching and learning journey. On two occasions, the teacher, Ms Li, proudly proclaimed to the whole class: “I love you all!” And the whole class reciprocated, spontaneously, with “We love you, too!”

Such classroom dynamics don’t just happen by chance. The teacher must have spent a lot of time at the beginning of the school year building up this class cohesion and ethos!

Fake news

 昨天 Kelvin Cheung 在分享中談到要訓練學生判斷在網上找到的資訊的質素和真偽，當時他的其中一個例子就是下圖。記得當年一位舊學生知道我喜歡蒐集這類例子，於是立刻傳給我，我當時也很懷疑它的真偽，因為錯得太離譜，不合常理。

Padlet's Map Template for Creating a Multimodal Text

 Last Tuesday, I finally had the chance to have my Master's students create a multimodal text using the Map template in Padlet, to introduce some places worth visiting in HK. Here is my design for the group activity: 

1. Discuss with group members to decide on a theme for the collection of your recommended places to visit. 

2. Identify the exact places under this theme that your group has decided on. 

3. Divide up the work: Decide who will be responsible for which place.

4. Find out more about the place that you're responsible for. 

5. One person in your group will create a Padlet wall, and share the link with the other group members. This Padlet wall should be using the Map template. 

6. Collaboratively build up your group's Padlet map. Your place, in the form of a card, should consist of (a) name of the place, (b) a short introduction to the place, (c) a photo, and (d) a link to either a webpage or a Youtube video where viewers can find more information about the place. Your group members can either do this together, or 'separately together'. 

7. Upload your group's completed map to the Class Padlet. 

I have curated the 6 completed mpas and put them in the interactive image below. Click on the top left of each card to see the group's work. Note, though, that the students had only about 15 minutes, and it was their first attempt at the task. 

https://view.genial.ly/61a201b8f812630d8ffabd83?fbclid=IwAR3PmhlnSqzVZvNmka86qnYsSB0YAKoNp8RjI0E-K09puJjwmx0PsI5BFcs

Thinglink integrates with Canva

 如果要製作interactive image,我第一個推薦的app是Thinglink,因易學而效果已不錯；最近發覺Thinglink把另一個app Canva integrate在內，Thinglink便如虎添翼了，因可在Thinglink內選取Canva的template, edit後隨即加入Thinglink的interactive element, 乾手淨腳。

The power of flipped learning for teaching Speaking

 This morning, I observed an excellent lesson under the Jockey Club Flipped Learning Pilot Project. The teacher, a NET named Mr Gareth Roberts, had superb lesson management skills, and succeeded in getting this S2 class to do lots of meaningful speaking activities even though the lesson was only 30 minutes in duration.

This lesson also showed the strength of the flipped learning model. If it hadn't been because of flipped learning, the teacher would not have accomplished so much in a 30-minute speaking lesson.

Just awarded the Harvard Higher Education Teaching Certificate

 

The 7 Myths about Technology-Enhanced Language Learning

 Thanks to the invitation from OUP, I had the opportunity to give a presentation on technology-enhanced language learning at the Education Leadership Forum which commemorates OUP China's 60th anniversary. Over 500 people registered for the presentation, including people from Singapore, UK, Ukraine, Philippines, ...!

Wakelet's new layout

 Wakelet 新加column的layout後，用法更像Padlet了，雖然functionality 仍不及Padlet,但勝在免費。我是Padlet的early adopter,他們給了我58個免費的wall, 但仍不夠用，以後可以多用Wakelet作為替代。

Harvard Higher Education Teaching Certificate

 Received the final grade for the Harvard Higher Education Teaching Certificate course which I took in the summer. The grade was based on over 20 assignments and quizzes. This 8-week course was much more demanding than I had anticipated. A slight imperfection that I didn't get full marks for the final grade, but good enough for me to get the certificate. The biggest gain, though, is that the course has re-energised me for teaching in the new academic year. Now looking forward to receiving the physical certificate in mid-October.

Speaker at a language forum organised by HKUST's Center for Language Education

 

Becoming MIEE 2021-22

 The first e-learning badge I have earned in 2021-22.

"The 8 biggest breakthroughs in the science of learning"

 An article that includes some useful reminders: 

https://www.brainscape.com/academy/how-students-learn-science-of-learning/?utm_campaign=Academy+Drips%3A+Teachers&utm_content=Email+2%3A+8+Of+the+biggest+breakthroughs+in+learning+science&utm_medium=email_action&utm_source=customer.io

Launching into the 35th year

 快開學了。1991年進入中大教育學院任教，這暑假剛好滿30年，加上先前在羅富國教育學院的4年，這個九月，將會是我從事teacher education 的第35個年頭。

能夠這麼長期從事自己享受的工作，從中找到意義，工作性質又讓我可以不斷學習，我實在非常非常幸運。

Completing the Harvard Higher Education Teaching Certificate course

 經過九個星期努力，終於完成這Harvard 的Higher Education Teaching Certificate 課程，當然仍要等8月19日provisional grade 的公佈，才知道會否獲得證書。

回想這九個星期的課程，比我當初想像中demanding和rigorous 得多，課程的prospectus說每星期需時10小時，但事實上遠超此數。而我已經不知多久沒有在兩個月內做了那麼多篇功課。

今次整個學習過程除了內容外，给我兩個很大的體會：(1)温故知新: 作為teacher educator, 課程內容對我並不是100％陌生，但就是review 學過的知識(例如Bloom's taxonomy),仍會有新的理解和體會；(2)學如逆水行舟，不進則退。

去年暑假不能外遊，結果讀了多個e-learning 課程和考了十多個e-learning的認證。今個暑假仍然不能外遊，結果完成這如果外遊便無可能完成的Harvard課程。這罕有的人生經驗令我再記起西諺When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

當然我仍然希望明年暑假可以外遊!

Students may remember ...

 那天和32年前舊學生午餐敘舊，她竟然可以清楚敘述我當時其中一課的流程!

老實說，我自己也不會記得起每一課的細節，這亦提醒我們當老師的，有時候我們的一句說話，一個舉動，我們也許不以為意，但學生也許會記得很多年呢!

A good teacher vs A successful teacher

 

To me, ‘a good teacher’ is a general term. The question boils down to how ‘good’ should be defined. Some people may equate ‘good’ with ‘caring’, while others may equate it with ‘being nice’. Still there will be those who define ‘a good teacher’ as a pedagogically competent teacher.

All of us want to be looked upon as good teachers. And indeed we may receive that compliment once in a while, for example when someone says it out of social courtesy. At the end of the day, we ourselves have to contemplate in what ways we want to be ‘good’ as teachers.

To me, the description ‘a successful teacher’ takes into account those on the receiving end, i.e., the students. A successful teacher succeeds in changing the students in one way or another, whether in terms of knowledge, or skills, or attitude.

Today, within changing students in terms of attitude, I would highlight one teacher success factor: the successful teacher ignites in his/her students a curiosity, enthusiasm, and even passion, in continuing to further their investigation of the course subject matter even when the course is over. This is because we are now living in the 21^st century. With knowledge being multiplied day by day, every university course, even those at advanced levels, will only scratch the surface. For me, this disposition to lifelong learning is of paramount importance. To sum up, if I see a student continuing to explore my course subject matter even after the end of the course, that is the kind of success that I will most value.

Pecha Kucha - my quick review

 https://www.pechakucha.com/ is a web app for creating videos from pictures. You upload some pictures, voice-record every picture (slide), and then click create. The beta video creator doesn't have any other editing functions. 

Hence, it doesn't trump the more modern apps for creating videos from pictures. Pecha Kucha distinguishes itself as follows: 

1. The number of pictures you can upload is fixed (e.g., 5, or 10, or 20). The audio narration duration for each slide is equivalent to the number of slides you have uploaded. Thus, if you have uploaded 5 pictures, you have 5 seconds for narrating each picture. This is fixed. But as such, this may be good for practising presentation skills, especially with regard to timing. 

2. Pecha Kucha is primarily for people who want to share their work with the public. There is a vibrant Pecha Kucha community which organises presentations events from time to time. 

Downside

3. Too rigid in terms of the number of pictures one can upload, and the duration for narrating each picture. 

4. The download video option is a paid function. 

5. There isn't an unlisted sharing option. (Default: public)

Is Active Learning possible in large lecture halls?

One major challenge in employing active learning strategies in teaching university classes for some courses (especially, the more ‘general’ ones)  is certainly large class size. Students are seated in large lecture theatres, and in rows. The setting itself already encourages chalk and talk by the instructor. Even setting up group discussions is not that easy. Then, the large class size makes it difficult to administer and manage active learning activities. For example, it is difficult for the instructor to provide help to individual groups. There will never be enough time for individual to report their work to the whole class.

The lecturing to large classes may save costs, but it is a very 20^th century teaching activity. Of course, this is not to say that all large-class lecturing should be dispensed with. But first, such lectures should be shortened and condensed (especially given today’s shortened attention span of EVERYBODY), and instead, should be complemented with other modes of learning.

Fortunately (for me), today even with large classes, there are still e-learning strategies which can facilitate some forms of active learning, even if students are seated in rows in a large lecture theatre. For example, there are now many useful polling and quiz apps for tapping into students’ views, previous knowledge, answers to quick questions, etc. (e.g., AnswerGarden, PollEverywhere, QuestionPro, Quizizz, Socrative). There are also apps for students to easily share their ideas (e.g., Padlet, Google Jamboard). There are also apps for creating short interactive tasks, which may be administered at intervals during a lecture (e.g., Wordwall; LearningApps.org).

  

Motivating students to engage actively in a lesson

To me, one way to motivate students to engage actively and participate in a lesson is when they see the purpose of the class session, and how it contributes to their future endeavours. However, sometimes this is easier said than done. If a course, or a class session, is closely related to what students HAVE TO complete soon, then this actual need will easily spice up the students, even if this is only extrinsic motivation. One example is the class session on Lesson Planning, which is usually conducted towards the end of my 17-session Subject Curriculum and Teaching (English) course on the Postgraduate Diploma in Education programme. The students, who are either preservice or inservice ESL teachers, will be supervised for teaching practicum soon after the Subject Curriculum and Teaching course. During the lesson observations, they will be assessed on, inter alia,  their lesson planning skills. In this scenario, it is not difficult to motivate students to engage activity, as they will have a chance to, and in fact need to, apply the lesson planning ideas soon in their own teaching.

It is less easy, however, when the course, or the class session, has no immediate application value to the students, especially if the course is more theoretical in nature. For a four-year undergraduate programme, students may not ‘feel’ the future importance of a course if it is offered in the first or second year of study. Sometimes, even the whole programme may not be one that is ‘practical’ or career-oriented.

It is under such circumstances that the task for course instructions to motivate students to engage them actively becomes even more challenging. The course instructor may then have to strive to (a) show the intrinsic value of,  and stimulate intrinsic interest in, the course content itself, and (b) make the class sessions themselves more interesting and rewarding, utilising a variety of teaching techniques (e.g., ‘small teaching’ strategies (Lang, 2016)) .

 

Lang, J. M. (2016). Small teaching : everyday lessons from the science of learning. Jossey-Bass & Pfeiffer.

The 'Collections' function in Microsoft Edge

 My default browser is Chrome. But recently, while following the Harvard course, I discovered, by chance, a useful function in Microsoft Edge which is very useful for note-taking. It's called 'Collections'. After I click on the Collections icon in the top right corner, a vertical pane will pop up on the right-hand edge of the web page. Then if I see a key phrase or an important sentence on the web page I'm reading which I want to note down, all I need to do is highlight it, and then drag it into the right-hand Collection pane. I can even drag a diagram into the pane. I can also use the sticky note function inside the pane to type my own notes. 

After I have finished reading a module section, to get a copy of the notes that I have collected in the pane, all I need to do is to export that collection as a Word file. Later, when I start a new module section, I simply start a new Collection. 

Of course, this note-taking can be done by doing copy-and-paste into a Word document, but then you have to open and keep switching between 2 windows, and the Edge 'drag into collection' action is much quicker and simpler, and fun!

I didn't know how to teach until I met you

 In the 'Make a difference' movie,  Teddy Stallard, MD, at his wedding, thanked his elementary school teacher Ms Thompson: "Thank you for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important, and showing me that I could make a difference. (Teddy was once an at-risk student in elementary school, but Ms Thompson turned his life around.).  It's Ms Thompson's reply that has resonated with me ever since: "Teddy, you've got it all wrong. You're the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."  This reply resonates with me because it reminds me that it's the students whom I have had that have served as the stimulus to my becoming a good teacher (and perhaps, even a better human being). Without them, I won't know the true meaning of teaching, and how to be a good teacher: "I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

https://makeadifferencemovie.com/index.php

Kapwing for creating videos

 Out of the blue, Kapwing, a video editor, has become very popular among teachers in Hong Kong. I had a go, and created the video below. So far, the two biggest pluses to me are (a) inserting Gifs, and (b) adding background music. Overall, it's a very easy to use video editor. 

https://www.kapwing.com/videos/60eaae18a9816100b9117f9f

Doodling function in Powtoon for free

 Glad that Powtoon has added the doodling function for free. Now I don't have to purchase Doodling apps like Doodle Maker or Doodly. Check out the one I've just created below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grGSzgr09vU

Phase 2 of MIEE self-nomination passed

 今年(2021~22)的Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert的self~nomination 和去年有點不同，去年其中主要部分是製作一視頻，去自我介绍如何推進e-learning，今年這部分主要用文字描述，但增加了測驗性質的Phase 2,以考驗申請者對Microsoft tools 的熟悉程度。剛收到可以進入最後階段Phase 3的通知，不用重做Phase 2。

The Design Idea function in PPT

 我真是愛死PowerPoint 的Design Idea功能了!我平日不大願意花時間美化PowerPoint 或edit video for effects, 都是以簡單直接為主。但PowerPoint 讓我不做任何editing, 也可以製作不太單調的presentation deck。像下面的一個，我先在Word 以outline 模式記下要點，然後開PPT, import這Outline, 已經有整個成形的presentation deck, 最後為每一張slide 從右邊自動generate 出來的design idea選一個，乾手淨腳。create PPT這部分，不用十分鐘。

而且隨着PPT 背後的AI 愈來愈聪明, generate 出來的visuals 一定會愈來愈貼切和有趣。

Attending the graduation ceremony of Baptist Lui Ming Choi Primary School

 收穫滿滿的早上。以主禮嘉賓身份出席浸信會呂明才小學的畢業禮，感受了一個程序充滿温馨，每一成員都充滿歸屬感的畢業禮。和PGDE舊學員，現任校長 Wong Fai Mei ,現任英語教師 Katie Sham 敘舊。認識了校監曾啟文先生，上任校長黃潔蓮校長，和一眾卓有成就的校董。還獲贈一份很特別的紀念品呢!

這早上，讓我再一次看到教育工作的重要和意義。

++++++++++

今早坐在台下欣賞同學的分享，無論是他們合唱的三首歌，傳燈儀色，或四段分班的視頻，有幾刻我觸動得幾乎忍不住眼淚，因為令我想起背後一眾老師的心血，和呂小對他們成長辦演了的角色。我的分享主旨在提醒同學要感恩，而他們在四段視頻中正正就是這樣做!整個典禮，令我親身感受到我們作為educator, 如何任重道遠，如何以生命影響生命。

Sunsetting of Google Tour Creator and Google Tour Builder

 I'm a little dismayed that Google is sunsetting Google Tour Creator tomorrow, forever. It was Janet  Law who first introduced to me this app for creating 360 VR trips, and I fell in love with it immediately. 

Compared with Google Tour Builder, Google Tour Creator is much easier to use (of course the two serve different functions). It has good potentials for English language teaching because teachers can set a topic (e.g., Chinese temples in Hong Kong), have students put together a 360 VR tour that consists of the destinations that they have found on Google Earth, and make an audio recording introducing each place on the trip. (The built-in audio recorder is easy to use.) The whole process can be a very educational project experience because students have to do online research, make decisions about what to include, and decide how best to introduce each place. The best part is that Google Tour Creator is technically easy for students to grasp. 

Unfortunately, after tomorrow, it will be gone forever. 

(Google Tour Builder will also sunset on July 15. Does anyone know after that, what apps can be used to create 360 VR trips?)

My game literacy

 A former student alerted me to Blooket, an app for creating and conducting teacher-paced or self-paced quizzes. In a way, it's like Kahoot and Quizizz, but it has an additional gamification element, in that students have to use the points that they have gained during the quiz process to carry out another task. There are 5 such game modes. 

What is interesting is that while I was checking out the game modes, I found the instructions so difficult to follow. But I'm sure that school children can pick up the game procedures in no time. 

I simply have poor 'game literacy', if I may coin such a term. This is because I seldom play games in my life, thinking that they're a waste of time. This also reminds me of the 'affective filter hypothesis' proposed by Steven Krashen in the early 80's under his Comprehensible Input Hypothesis: we will acquire a language naturally if we're exposed to language input that we understand, but this process won't work if you have negative emotions about the input language. 

And I think that's why game manuals are always so difficult for me to follow.

is the possessive apostrophe disappearing from the English language?

Should it be "Parents' Day" or "Parents Day"; "Ladies' Room" or "Ladies Room"; "Supervisors' Booth" or "Supervisors Booth"? In fact, is the possessive apostrophe disappearing from the English language? 

See my language awareness article in Ming Pao today: 

 https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e8%8b%b1%e6%96%87/article/20210623/s00017/1624385940994/%e8%8b%b1%e8%aa%9eguide-is-the-possessive-apostrophe-disappearing

Teaching is no longer just chalk and talk

 今天可能還有行外人以為教書就是chalk and talk, 如果他們有機會旁聽這些老師的教學分享會，他們會發覺今天的教與學原來背後是那麼多專門的學問。(攝於今早賽馬會翻轉教學計劃分享會。)

How should 'below' be used and classified?

 Do you accept using 'below' as in 'the below information', 'the below list', 'the below section', etc."?

An admin document from The Harvard Teaching Certificate Course contains the following sentence:

"Make sure your address below is correct. You can search again or edit the below address manually."

What is interesting is that 'below' is used twice in the same sentence, but in different ways.

If my impression is correct, until 10 years ago, people would only say 'the information below', with 'below' classified as an adverb! (This is different from 'below' as a preposition, as in 'below the table', 'below the surface', etc.). Today, to me, the fight against phrases like 'the below information' and 'the below list' is over. (The word 'above' went through a similar process. Now, it's "below"'s turn.)

Then 'below' has to be classified as an adjective. I've looked up a few online dictionaries. Almost all of them still classify 'below' as a preposition ('below the table') and an adverb (the information below). Only one dictionary has classified 'below' also as an adjective: Merriam-Webster.

What is even more interesting is that in the Harvard sentence, the first occurrence of 'below' is 'Your address below', i.e., the 'traditional' word order. If I change it to 'Your below address', it doesn't sound quite right to my ear (though I have no problem accepting 'the below information'). I can't think of a reason yet, but this might suggest that there's still a place for 'below' to function as an adverb (though I personally prefer calling it a postmodifying adjective).

My first serving school and my formative years as a teacher

 因着賽馬會翻轉教學計劃重訪自己當年任教的第一所中學，聽着幾位年青教師分享他們實施計畫的經驗，感受他們的投入和教學熱誠，然後又想起自己當年在這裏當教師的formative years和成長……想到這幾十年能夠在不同崗位從事教育工作，從中找到生命的意義，我實在是太幸運了。

My keynote presentation for Webinar organised by HKedCity and CEATETA

 https://www.hkedcity.net/eventcalendar/event/607f908ccc9f93b82b8196fa?fbclid=IwAR08Gxhb7lb-WrRKRm4_HirjX-N-QvcRJVNqSVDc3pwHwqEV9nPC_6wpYyw

Topic: 

Engaging Students in Class with eLearning Techniques: My Strategies

GoFormative has finished revamping their Certified Educator programme

 Just noticed that GoFormative has finally finished revamping their programme for becoming a Certified Formative Educator. The revamped programme has 3 phases, and requires evidence of having tried a Goformative unit with students. So, for me, I will have to wait until September to fulfill this requirement. 

In my experience, GoFormative is fantastic for delivering interactive lessons on Reading Comprehension. But if you have other ingenious ways of using GoFormative, please share your ideas with me. 

http://community.goformative.com/formativecertified

I love Padlet

 Padlet is simply too easy to use but at the same time highly versatile since it can embed many different types of materials. I will just create one for every course I teach in 2021-22 as the course website.

My cycle of getting good ideas for teaching

 It happened again. I was fully absorbed in the last round of planning for a workshop tomorrow. After 2 hours, I decided to have a break, and started heading to a nearby Fairwood for a cup of milk tea. While in the lift, a good activity idea popped up in my mind. 

So here is the cycle: rack my brain over something for some time > put it aside > relax and do something else > a better idea pops into my head > add it to my previous planning.

What function does the bare infinitive serve?

The bare infinitive does not exist to make life difficult for ESL learners, who sometimes confuse it with to-infinitive. 

What function does the bare infinitive serve? See my language awareness article in today's Ming Pao.

https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%e8%8b%b1%e6%96%87/article/20210526/s00017/1621966102851/%e8%8b%b1%e8%aa%9eguide-why-do-we-need-the-bare-infinitive

Seminar for PolyU teaching staff

Seminar for PolyU teaching staff: "Effective Strategies in Online and Face-to-face Classes"; event organised by PolyU School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED)

When will I be able to do all-face-to-face teaching again?

 Just ran into this email from the university administration 15 months ago, which completely changed how we usually taught overnight. Over the next few days, all teaching staff frantically learnt how to teach via Zoom. At that time, I thought that like SARS of 2003, the ordeal would be over in 2 months. But it dragged on for more than a year.

This September, will I be able to revert to all-face-to-face teaching?

The dictation function in word is getting better and better

 I

used to ignore the Dictation function in Word, thinking that my typing was faster and more accurate. 

But things have changed. Today, the Dictation function is still not perfect, but is good enough for creating a first draft, and thus serves as a useful time saver. 

But at the same time, why is it that given all these technological time savers, we're not getting more free time for ourselves? 

Space is important for creativity to happen

 有時候集中精神備課，完成後放在一旁，隨後在散步時，或甚至在沐浴期間，腦中會突然就先前的備課出現新的更有趣的點子，可以在先前的設計中採用。(剛剛又在我身上出現。)

這樣的經驗不少心理學家都提過，有創意或有趣的點子，往往在第一輪專注的思考之後，在放鬆的情況下才會突然出現。

這亦提醒我，要準備一個重要的presentation, 盡可能早一點開始設計。至於被觀課的老師，也愈早準備愈好。

A small but useful trick

Sometimes these small e-learning tricks may have slipped my mind. When I have created an e-learning task and obtained the share link, I cannot be 100% sure that other people can also open the link, especially if the app concerned requires signing up first (and my computer may have memorised my login details). So, I often ask my former students to test the links for me. 

Just now, Janet suggested that I try the share link on an incognito tab. I had a go, and then found out immediately whether the link would work with other people!

A small trick, but very useful to me.

MAELT Annual Conference

 In the late 70s in HK, we had the Primary English Teachers' Association (PETA), and the Secondary School English Teachers' Association (SSETA), both of which were administered by the British Council HK. Then in the late 80s, we had the Hong Kong division of the UK-based International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL). Still later in the 90s, we started to have the HKPTU ELT Group. 

Today, none of these professional groups for English teachers in HK have continued to function. 

In contrast, in Macao, they have the very active Macao Association for the Advancement of English Language Teaching, which runs an annual conference on top of other activities. 

My salutes to them.

Awarded the Certificated in FLGI Flipped Learning 3.0 Differentiation Strategies

 

Completed and awarded the following certificate by the Flipped Learning Global Initiative 

Chrome vs Edge

 Browser 我一向用Chrome, 貪其extensions 好用。但最近意外發現Microsoft Edge的Collection 功能，對於就某一題目搜集和記錄找到的資料，很方便和好用。

Edtech永遠都有新發現。

Completed the Microsoft Differentiation Course

 

Powerpoint vs Google Slides

 以前的PPT,純粹是install在電腦內的軟件，自從有了office 365, ppt背後和internet 連接，已大大加强了它的功能，這一兩年再引入AI和assistive technology, 令它如虎添翼。用它來製作flipped video, 乾手淨脚。曾經一度捨PPT 而取Google Slides, 但現時PowerPoint 又重奪我的歡心。

相反，Google Slides 有點停滯不前。

Creating a travel route on Padlet

 Just noticed that the Map template of Padlet is useful for creating a travel route, and can work as a multimodal writing task for students: 

1. Create a new Padlet. 

2. Choose Map as the template. A world map will show. Then drag the map to go to the area of the world (e.g., England, HK Island, Wong Tai Sin) where you want to create your interactive map. 

3. Drag the Pin icon from the right pane to the point of the map where you want to add a stop. 

4. Then as usual, edit the Pin by adding text, an image, a link, etc. 

Wordpress + Anchor

 Just noticed that Wordpress had 'merged' with Anchor, a podcasting platform, a short while ago. Now, we can convert our old, as well as new, Wordpress blog posts into podcast episodes. 

I tried that with a couple of old blog posts, and the conversion was rather quick. 

After the conversion, we can listen to the respective podcast episodes either on Anchor, or on Spotify. The resulting machine-converted audio episodes sound acceptable, and not terribly robotic (and much much better than the early days of text-to-speech conversion). 

I'm still figuring how to make use of this new function in language teaching. 

Here is my newly created Spotify podcast link, titled "Teach, Write, Live", converted from my Wordpress blog of the same name: 

https://open.spotify.com/show/6P9Cb3TH7SbI2J9yrqlJST

(So far, I have converted 3 previous blog posts only.)

Looking forward to the 35th year

隨着今早本學期最後一課的完結，我亦剛好完成在中大教育學院第三十年的教學。如果加上先前在羅富國教育學院的四年，今天便是我完成教師教育工作三十四年的一天。

能夠這麼長期從事自己享受的工作，從中找到意義，期間又可以在個人和專業兩方面不斷成長，我實在非常非常幸運。

期待九月時，開始第三十五個教師教育年頭。

Lesson Study for teacher professional development

 This morning I took part in a peer lesson observation which was associated with the school's Lesson Study scheme. Teachers of the same grade level planned a lesson together, and taught the lesson, with modifications that catered to the needs of each class, to their respective classes. The teachers concerned observed each other's lessons to see how the collaboratively planned lesson worked with each class.

As a teacher educator, I must say I revere such professional development activities. It requires that the school concerned (in this case, a secondary school) values (a) good teaching and learning, and (2) teachers' professional learning from each other.

I also benefit from such lesson observations. For example, this morning, for the first time, I saw (a) how a Quizlet Live competition worked in a secondary school classroom (though I had tried it in my own classes before), and (b) how the recent Chrome QR code embedded with each URL worked (I hadn't tried this myself yet).

Blendspace is still functioning

 A few years ago, I used TES BLENDSPACE quite often to create presentations. Then, for reasons I have forgotten, I put the tool aside, and after a while, remembered the name TES only. Still later, when I wanted to use the app again, I couldn't remember the full name, and when I googled TES, I was taken to other places. 

An hour ago, while thumbing through an old notebook, I saw the name Blendspace again - the memory came back. I then googled Blendspace, and I was taken to the app which I used quite often a few years ago. 

https://www.blendspace.com/lessons

I'm glad despite the quick developments of other presentation apps in the last few years, Blendspace is still functioning. I then browsed a couple of presentations in their Library. I think Blendspace still has its merits, although PPT has improved enormously in the last couple of years. It can embed external websites, Youtube videos, and more importantly, PPT, PDF, WORD files from your Google Drive. This is something which PPT is still unable to do. 

Hence, I must keep an eye out to an opportunity in the near future to use Blendspace for a short presentation, to refresh my memory of how it works, and also to test out its advantages against other presentation apps.